Baseball Guru
05-31-2002, 06:40 AM
By BERNIE WILSON
SAN DIEGO (AP) - The struggling San Diego Padres learned Thursday that third basemen Phil Nevin and Sean Burroughs will each miss significant time because of arm and shoulder injuries.
Nevin has a broken left arm and is expected to be out six weeks, and Burroughs, a rookie who was benched in favor of Nevin on Monday, has a slight tear in his right rotator cuff and will be out 3-to-4 weeks.
The Padres think Burroughs, the son of 1974 AL MVP Jeff Burroughs, will be able to avoid surgery, general manager Kevin Towers said. Burroughs is expected to get a cortisone shot in the next few days.
The Padres moved All-Stars Nevin and Ryan Klesko in spring training to make way for the highly touted Burroughs, who originally hurt his shoulder in September in Triple-A. His average fell to .221, and he was put on the disabled list on Thursday.
Nevin was hurt Wednesday night diving for a grounder in the Padres' win over Colorado, and the original diagnosis was a bruised rotator cuff.
``I'm kind of shocked,'' he said Thursday. ``I'm just surprised. I figured I had a little bruise in my arm. I didn't sleep very well last night. There was some discomfort, but this was the last thing I would think about.''
Nevin had an MRI on Thursday and doctors thought they saw a fracture, trainer Todd Hutcheson said. Nevin was X-rayed, then a CT scan confirmed the break.
Nevin had been back just three games from a stint on the disabled list with a strained left elbow when he was hurt again. He started this season at first base, but moved back to third on Monday night after Burroughs was benched.
``It just seems strange,'' Nevin said. ``I've never heard of anybody breaking a bone going for a ball. You hear of guys separating their shoulder or jamming their shoulder or wrist, but not breaking the bone.
``I guess I just had to land in a perfect spot. I looked at replays several times. I know I landed kind of hard.''
Hutcheson said Nevin broke his upper arm bone near the shoulder. He said Nevin will start doing range-of-motion exercises within the next two weeks.
``Just like any fracture, you give it time to heal,'' Hutcheson said. ``Once it heals stronger, and we strengthen him up, he should be fine.''
The Padres have lost 10 of their last 14 games and have been in last place in the NL West for more than a week.
``We just got him back,'' Klesko said. ``This is a pretty tough blow. It's going to be a big blow to our offense.''
Nevin, the Padres' MVP the last three seasons, was hitting .293 with five homers and 21 RBIs.
``We have to hopefully pick things up with someone else,'' manager Bruce Bochy said. ``Until we do, we're going to struggle.''
Last year, when Nevin was named an All-Star for the first time, he hit .306 with 41 homers and 126 RBIs, all career-bests. The homers and RBIs put Nevin second on the Padres' all-time lists.
Nevin was the first overall draft pick in 1992 by Houston, but nearly played himself out of the majors with a bad temper and a bad attitude.
He's resurrected his career with the Padres, who obtained him as a third-string catcher late in spring training in 1999. He became the everyday third baseman that August, and has become one of the team's leaders on and off the field.
Burroughs had an MRI on Thursday that showed his injuries are similar to those he first sustained in September, when he was with Triple-A Portland, Towers said.
Burroughs said he first hurt himself swinging at a high changeup during the second-to-last game last season. He said he was way out front of the pitch and heard a popping sound in his shoulder.
He said he was fine in spring training, but then took a ``weird'' swing against the Dodgers' Andy Ashby on April 21.
``I felt it did the same thing as in Portland. Ever since, it's been on and off,'' Burroughs said before Thursday's 4-2 loss to the Rockies. ``I kind of kept my mouth shut. I told them how it felt, but I played through it. It wasn't really too bad.''
Said Towers: ``He didn't want to say anything. He wanted to stay in the lineup. I think it's not only affected him offensively, I think it's affected him mentally and on defense, also.''
Right-handed starter Brian Tollberg also went on the DL Thursday, with a sprained right elbow, and said he'll probably have an MRI on Friday.
Bochy said the Padres will take a look at D'Angelo Jimenez, Trenidad Hubbard and rookies Ramon Vazquez and Julius Matos at third. Jimenez and Vazquez just started a platoon at second. Matos earned his first big league promotion on Thursday.
SAN DIEGO (AP) - The struggling San Diego Padres learned Thursday that third basemen Phil Nevin and Sean Burroughs will each miss significant time because of arm and shoulder injuries.
Nevin has a broken left arm and is expected to be out six weeks, and Burroughs, a rookie who was benched in favor of Nevin on Monday, has a slight tear in his right rotator cuff and will be out 3-to-4 weeks.
The Padres think Burroughs, the son of 1974 AL MVP Jeff Burroughs, will be able to avoid surgery, general manager Kevin Towers said. Burroughs is expected to get a cortisone shot in the next few days.
The Padres moved All-Stars Nevin and Ryan Klesko in spring training to make way for the highly touted Burroughs, who originally hurt his shoulder in September in Triple-A. His average fell to .221, and he was put on the disabled list on Thursday.
Nevin was hurt Wednesday night diving for a grounder in the Padres' win over Colorado, and the original diagnosis was a bruised rotator cuff.
``I'm kind of shocked,'' he said Thursday. ``I'm just surprised. I figured I had a little bruise in my arm. I didn't sleep very well last night. There was some discomfort, but this was the last thing I would think about.''
Nevin had an MRI on Thursday and doctors thought they saw a fracture, trainer Todd Hutcheson said. Nevin was X-rayed, then a CT scan confirmed the break.
Nevin had been back just three games from a stint on the disabled list with a strained left elbow when he was hurt again. He started this season at first base, but moved back to third on Monday night after Burroughs was benched.
``It just seems strange,'' Nevin said. ``I've never heard of anybody breaking a bone going for a ball. You hear of guys separating their shoulder or jamming their shoulder or wrist, but not breaking the bone.
``I guess I just had to land in a perfect spot. I looked at replays several times. I know I landed kind of hard.''
Hutcheson said Nevin broke his upper arm bone near the shoulder. He said Nevin will start doing range-of-motion exercises within the next two weeks.
``Just like any fracture, you give it time to heal,'' Hutcheson said. ``Once it heals stronger, and we strengthen him up, he should be fine.''
The Padres have lost 10 of their last 14 games and have been in last place in the NL West for more than a week.
``We just got him back,'' Klesko said. ``This is a pretty tough blow. It's going to be a big blow to our offense.''
Nevin, the Padres' MVP the last three seasons, was hitting .293 with five homers and 21 RBIs.
``We have to hopefully pick things up with someone else,'' manager Bruce Bochy said. ``Until we do, we're going to struggle.''
Last year, when Nevin was named an All-Star for the first time, he hit .306 with 41 homers and 126 RBIs, all career-bests. The homers and RBIs put Nevin second on the Padres' all-time lists.
Nevin was the first overall draft pick in 1992 by Houston, but nearly played himself out of the majors with a bad temper and a bad attitude.
He's resurrected his career with the Padres, who obtained him as a third-string catcher late in spring training in 1999. He became the everyday third baseman that August, and has become one of the team's leaders on and off the field.
Burroughs had an MRI on Thursday that showed his injuries are similar to those he first sustained in September, when he was with Triple-A Portland, Towers said.
Burroughs said he first hurt himself swinging at a high changeup during the second-to-last game last season. He said he was way out front of the pitch and heard a popping sound in his shoulder.
He said he was fine in spring training, but then took a ``weird'' swing against the Dodgers' Andy Ashby on April 21.
``I felt it did the same thing as in Portland. Ever since, it's been on and off,'' Burroughs said before Thursday's 4-2 loss to the Rockies. ``I kind of kept my mouth shut. I told them how it felt, but I played through it. It wasn't really too bad.''
Said Towers: ``He didn't want to say anything. He wanted to stay in the lineup. I think it's not only affected him offensively, I think it's affected him mentally and on defense, also.''
Right-handed starter Brian Tollberg also went on the DL Thursday, with a sprained right elbow, and said he'll probably have an MRI on Friday.
Bochy said the Padres will take a look at D'Angelo Jimenez, Trenidad Hubbard and rookies Ramon Vazquez and Julius Matos at third. Jimenez and Vazquez just started a platoon at second. Matos earned his first big league promotion on Thursday.